Dramatic capture of the Chimney Rock thief on the Swell

For the past two years campers and ATV riders and users of the Chimney Rock area in general have been plagued by missing items from their camps and ATVs. Ranchers in the area have also had several items taken from their ranches.

The men who helped apprehend the thief tell their story, "Today myself Jason Allinson, Jeramie Young and Ron Young went riding down at Chimney Rock. When we got there we heard that the Chimney Rock Bandit had been seen earlier that day. We went for a ride not seeing him, we went back to our truck to eat lunch. While we were eating, Emery County Sheriff Detective John Barnett stopped and told us that he seen some tracks over by where he was last seen.

"So we gassed up our bikes and headed over to where he had seen the tracks. Jeramie decided to climb to the top of the hill to see what he could see. When he got the top of the hill, sure enough, there he was stealing a gas can and a coat out of the back of a truck. Right there at the time, we took off after him he headed down a wash and I was right on his tail. After about 300 yards he hit a wash and went over the bars. I jumped off my bike and tackled him. He jumped up, kicked me in the ribs, and took off running. At that time, I jumped on the bike with Jeramie and we took off after him again. Jeramie stopped and got off his bike to call the cops and I took off after him with Ron. I was right behind him in the wash and Ron was beside him on top of the wash. Ron got ahead of him and dropped down in the wash and stopped him at that time I ran him over and jumped on him, Ron ran over and we got him down and tied his hands behind his back with my jersey. Jeramie went back to the road to get the cops and Ron went back to the bandits bike to pick it up.

"I heard Jeramie coming with the cops so I thought it was all over just when I turned back to the bandit he stood up and kicked me and then head butted me and took off again. I couldn't believe it, the chase was on again I pointed Jeramie and the cops to where he was. We looked for him for about 20 minutes when finally a cop showed up with a dog and it was all over from there," said Jason.

The man responsible for these thefts appeared in court on March 3 to answer to the charges.

Jason Pogue appeared in the Seventh District Court of Castle Dale and was arraigned on over 30 counts of criminal conduct ranging from misdemeanor and felonies to drug charges. His charges include approximately 15 felonies from third degree to second degree. Pogue will have a preliminary hearing on March 17. He remains in custody in the Emery County Jail.

His date of birth is 04/23/1974. The charges and dates of the thefts include: second degree felony burglary on 11/17/08 and 2/20/09; four second degree felony counts of theft on 11/17/08; five second degree felony charges of theft on 2/19/09; one third degree felony count of theft on 8/10-08 and one misdeameanor theft charge on 8/10/08; two third degree felony charges of theft by receiving stolen property on 2/21/09; two misdeameanor charges of theft on 11-17-08; one misdeameanor charge of theft on 2/19-09; one misdeameanor charge of burglary of a vehicle on 2/20/09; one misdeameanor charge of theft on 2/20/09; one misdeameanor charge of burglary of a vehicle on 2/13/09; one misdeameanor charge of theft on 2/13/09; one misdeameanor charge of burglary of a vehicle on 5/01/08; one misdeameanor charge of theft on 5/01/08; one misdeameanor charge of burglary of a vehicle on 1/31/09; one misdeameanor charge of theft on 1/31/09; one misdeameanor charge of burglary of a vehicle on 9/29/08; one misdeameanor charge of theft on 9/29/08; one misdeameanor charge of assault against a police officer on 2/21-09; and one misdeameanor charge of manufacture/deliver drug parahernalia.

Emery County Sheriff LaMar Guymon said, "I would like to commend the detective work of John Barnett. This case is a job well done. He along with Sgt. Mitch Vetere returned to the site in the Woodside area for a week to make sure he had recovered everything involved in the thefts. Our office appreciates the help of the public on this apprehension. Most people would have given up after being assaulted, but we appreciate how everyone worked together. This also proves how necessary the canine program is within our office. We appreciate our dog, Nico and his assistance with the suspect. We appreciate the cooperation of the Adult Probabtion and Parole officers who assisted with this. I am amazed at how well all our people worked together. We had suspicions about this man in the past, but nothing conclusive enough where charges could be pressed until this time. The burglaries have been under investigation for a year or more and reports were taken on most of the missing items. The items were stashed and buried in the area, and many items had been pawned."

Det. John Barnett said many of the items recovered included: guns, tools, irrigation equipment, trailer and a generator. "He allegedly stole an ATV from East Carbon and a motorcycle from Moab. There were tools, guns, gas cans, a trailer full of irrigation pipe, a camp trailer, generator, hunting gear, motorcycle riding gear and several other items. He broke into a camp trailer in November that was parked across the road at Woodside. He stole five guns from the trailer along with the camping gear. He hid the guns in several locations around the desert and Woodside and they have been recovered. He stole a lot from the farmer in the area, including the older camp trailer, a tractor and tools," said Det. Barnett.